


I See Chemistry

by caffeine_and_showtunes



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-14 22:29:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28678176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caffeine_and_showtunes/pseuds/caffeine_and_showtunes
Summary: Reggie and Luke are both dumbasses who do not realize they are in love with each other. It takes place immediately after the events of the first season.
Relationships: Alex Mercer & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters & Willie, Luke Patterson/Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 68





	I See Chemistry

Reggie lounged on the couch, slowly picking at the strings of his bass, his face entirely blank as he zoned out, completely unaware of his surroundings until Luke crashed down on the couch next to him. “C’mon, Reggie,” he chuckled, poking Reggie’s cheek playfully. “You look lost there, bud.”

He snapped out of his trance and locked eyes with Luke, his cheeks flushing as he tried to regain his bearings. “Uh, right.” He glanced around. “Where’d Alex go?”

Luke sighed and jumped up off the couch, grabbing his guitar. “Off to see Willie, I think. He ran off a while ago. And Julie’s up at the house, so I guess it’s just us here.”

“Good,” Reggie mumbled, setting down his bass and pulling his knees up to his chest, hugging them for comfort. 

Luke looked up from his journal, and his eyebrows furrowed into that half-angry look of concern. “Reg, talk to me.”

“What?”

“Your face. It’s doing that sad thing.”

“Oh.” Luke stared at him curiously, and Reggie plastered on a fake smile to stop him from worrying. He cleared his throat and gestured to Luke’s journal, smiling a little when he noticed his country song had been stuck back in between the pages. “So, uh, what are you working on?"

“A song for Julie,” Luke said absentmindedly, gnawing lightly on the end of his pen. 

“Oh, can I see?” 

Luke smiled and turned the journal around so Reggie could see the blank page. “Turns out I’m really bad at writing about Julie.”

Reggie looked confused and unfolded his legs. “Maybe it’s just writer’s block. I mean, you’re head over heels for Julie, it can’t be that hard to write a song about her. You wrote one about me.” Apparently. Reggie still wasn’t thrilled that Crooked Teeth was about him. 

“Yeah, well that’s different,” Luke said, starting to scribble down a few words. 

Silence filled the room, and Reggie didn’t quite feel welcome anymore, so he made his exit. “I’m gonna hang with Ray for a bit.” He needed a pick-me-up anyway, and if Luke, Alex, and Julie were busy, he didn’t have anywhere else to turn. 

“Listen, Nick—”

Reggie caught the sound of voices from outside the big house, and out of instinct he hid in the bushes. Julie didn’t really like him being places he wasn’t supposed to be.   
“—you’re a great guy, but I need some time. It’s not fair to you.”

“Right. I know. I know! I just … wanted to congratulate you on the Orpheum. I thought flowers were a good choice, but I can see how that would come off as, I dunno, romantic or something. You’re really awesome, Molina. Even if you won’t go on a date with me, I’d just like to be your friend.”

There was a small pause and Reggie peeked out from the greenery to see Nick and Julie hugging. Was he an idiot or something? He could just teleport to Ray. What was he doing all this sneaking around for anyway? He concentrated, and in a flash of light, he was gone. 

~~~

Ray was unfortunately nowhere to be found, and since Julie and Nick had taken over the couch, watching some movie or other, Reggie felt left out everywhere. He resigned himself to sitting outside the garage, not wanting to bother Luke, but also not wanting to be alone. He just sat there, curled up, listening to Luke occasionally humming a few lines of whatever melody he was writing. 

Suddenly Alex appeared in front of him. 

“Oh—,” he stumbled back, surprised to see Reggie there. It was obvious Reggie wasn’t welcome, so he got up to leave. “Reggie, wait. I was actually looking for you.”

“Well you found me.”

“I wanna show you something,” he grabbed my hand and poofed us both out  
.   
Reggie wasn’t able to take in his surroundings. He was only focused on Alex’s hand holding his. It didn’t feel quite right. He held hands with Luke all the time, and he knew Luke held hands with Alex, but it felt strange for the two of them to do so. It didn’t matter anyway, because Alex immediately dropped his hand and stepped back. 

“Willie took me here,” Alex said softly, and their surroundings finally registered to Reggie. 

“Oh,” he said, staring down at the rows and rows of stones before them. 

“Mine’s over that way. I wanted to check for your guys’ before we left and well …” He gestured down at the small stone by their feet that read ‘Reggie Peters’.

“Oh,” Reggie repeated, not knowing what else to do.

“Luke’s isn’t here. I don’t know where his is, but … I thought you might want to see this.”

Reggie nodded. “Thanks, Alex.”

Alex stared at him in silence for a moment before he cleared his throat. “Well, I uh, should probably get back. I’ll see you at home, Reg?”

He nodded his head and Alex disappeared. 

“Hi, Body,” Reggie said awkwardly, waving down at his gravestone. 

~~~

“Reggie!” Luke exclaimed as soon as Reggie poofed back into the garage, throwing his arm around Reggie’s shoulder. 

Reggie looked around, confused when he saw the band there, their instruments all out, and Flynn excitedly talking to space next to Alex. “Did I miss something?”

“We were just rehearsing,” Luke explained.

“Without me?”

“Well Flynn knows a little bass,” Julie pitched in. “She filled in.”

Reggie grabbed his bass protectively and glared at Luke and Alex. “Why would you let her touch my bass?”

“Reggie, relax,” Alex urged.

“No one thought Alex was weird when he freaked out over Ray touching his drums!”

“No one thinks you’re weird,” Luke assured him. 

“Have fun with your new bass player,” Reggie scowled, shoving his bass at Luke and storming out.

“Still think I’m the sensitive one?” Alex asked.

“Not the time,” Julie said, starting after Reggie.

“No, I’ve got this.” Luke pushed past them. He immediately regretted it. He couldn’t handle crying girls, but he really couldn’t handle a crying Reggie. “Oh, I uh, I’m sorry,” Luke said, stumbling for words. 

Reggie refused to look at him, hiding his face. 

“What can I do to help?” Luke asked, tugging awkwardly on the hem on his shirt.

“It’s all falling apart,” Reggie sputtered out in between sobs.

“Oh,” Luke’s voice broke. He hated seeing Reggie like that. “One second.” He turned around and ran back into the garage. “You guys need to leave, okay? I think I’m just gonna hang out with Reg for a while.”

“Can I help?” Alex asked. 

Luke shot him a pointed look. “You’ve done enough.”

“What did I do?” he asked, throwing his hands up defensively. 

“Band practice is over,” Luke said sternly, before running back out to find Reggie sitting on the stone wall. He stared at him in silence for a moment, gathering his courage. “This seat taken?” he asked, sitting down next to him. Reggie wiped the tears away from his eyes for a moment, only to see Julie and Flynn leaving the garage, giving him awkward waves as they went back up to the house. 

“I’m sorry,” Reggie sputtered. “I didn’t mean to mess up band practice.” 

“You didn’t.”

“Sorry.”

Luke cracked a smile for Reggie and hopped off the wall, moving in front of Reggie and staring up at him, surprised at how much taller Reggie was than him now. “Listen, Reg,” he said, grabbing Reggie’s face in his hands and lightly brushing his tears away with his thumb. Tears appeared in his own eyes, and he tried to ignore them. “Y’know when you cry, I’m gonna start crying too.” He smiled and laughed a little as he quoted, “If somebody hurts you, I’m gonna get hurt too.” 

Reggie locked eyes with Luke and lifted a hand, lightly placing it on top of Luke’s, confused but not at all uncomfortable with the affection. “I just … haven’t had time to process everything that’s happened. We’re dead, Luke. My parents are gone and I don’t know how to find them. I don’t … I don’t even have a body. I thought I was okay with it because I still had you guys, but what happens when I lose you too?”

Luke’s brow furrowed. “Oh c’mon Reggie,” he laughed. “You don’t really think we’d ditch you?” Reggie glared at him and he immediately dropped the smile. He sighed and glanced down. “I know what you mean, though. I haven’t really processed any of this either.” Reggie wiped his tears away, and Luke smiled up at him. “And hey, you might not have a body, but at least I can still hug you.” He opened his arms and tilted his head to the side to ask permission. Reggie paused for a moment, then grabbed Luke and pulled him close. 

Luke smiled and squeezed Reggie tight. “We’re gonna be alright.” 

Reggie gave a small laugh and pulled away from him, wiping his eyes one last time, and smiling down at Luke. “So, uh, how’s that song for Julie going? You were scribbling away pretty furiously when I left.”

“I didn’t end up writing about Julie."


End file.
